Saturday, February 11, 2012

This skin and it's elements, also the Locket of the Iron Solari, had been the culmination of many events, hijinks, discussions, hard work and above all. Riot and the Skins team allowing me the honor to not only create this skin, but embrace it's significance in the community. It was also an honor to be.. honored.. by the live design team and the game designers by having the locket created and integrated. It goes to show how much emphasis Riot puts on creativity, and letting the developers run with ideas.

At Riot we're allowed to own a project and bring it to life. As always though, the cooperation with the team is the key. I was extremely surprised that this idea was embraced and that the team cranked on it. It really blew me away.

This skin was was pitched and I jumped in to work on it in addition to my duties on the Champion team. This was a labor of love for myself, and I'm humbled that my co-workers allowed me the pleasure to bring it to life.

I was involved on every level as well, which was a new experience. I concepted the skin, made the turnaround of it, took on the splash myself, (with A LOT of help from Knockmaw and splash team), was able to dabble with the model, and allowed to create some promotional material.

The original concept presented to the Skins team.

The skin mockup created for production of the 3D model.

Final splash (Right click + New tab it for a high-rez version!)

Splash before before final adjustments. (Also new-tab high-rez clickable!)

All images copyright Riot Games, 2011-2012

I hope you end up enjoying the skin as much as I've loved working on it. Leona really does have a special place in my heart. She always will as she embodies some extremely powerful themes which I think should be highlighted. I like to do as much as I can to continue showcasing themes of female strength, fortitude, and the opportunity we have as developers to break the mold when we create a female champion. I think we can push in ways which we've never imagined and find the most clever ways to depict strong, confident women as a keystone of a good game.

My thanks also goes out to the members of the Iron Solari proper, in that they have shown me what a group of positive and dedicated players can forge when they're involved in a common love and cause. They have become my friends and my companions as I continue to learn as a player. They've taken some inspiration I planted by simply being my ridiculous self and created an entire world that in turn inspired me.

While I wanted to pay homage to the meme, I needed to make sure that I created a world-wide release worthy skin, that despite the meme, if you weren't in on the joke, you could still look and say, "Whoa! That's some bad-ass armor!" This Leona skin is a tribute to characters like Hilde from Soulcalibur, and Lenneth from Valkyrie Profile. Female characters that are depicted tastefully, project strength, yet are also beautiful due to them being powerful. I think this theme is worthy and aspirational in wherever our game finds players.

I would like to keep experimenting in the vein as I continue my work. I hope I do the players justice in an effort such as this. It is an honor and a pleasure to be allowed this creativity, and it is an unparalleled joy to be received positively in a community such as this.

Why hello! I've been meaning to get around to this for a long time. This blog is going to serve as an offload point for the work I do for Riot and League of Legends, once those assets have been publicly released and I have the proper authorization.

I hope to give you fans and art enjoyer-ers a peak into our pre-production process at Riot. A whole ton of development goes into creating a champion or skin. What I present is only a fraction of the total work that may go into such an asset. None of the concepts you see would at all be possible without an extremely dedicated and talented team, or an organisation like Riot allowing such creativity to be explored by artists and other developers. I hope you enjoy what I have to present and hope to hear feedback as to what you, the fans, have to contribute!

As always.. May the sun shine upon your blades and the Great Parrot watch over you! :D

Why, Hello There!

I'm Mike, a Senior Concept Artist at Riot games. I go by the name IronStylus on the League of Legends forums and in-game. I have the utmost pleasure to work with some of the most talented game developers in the industry. I hope you enjoy the work I've done for League of Legends!